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Sci-Fi

Finding Independently Produced TV Shows? 151

Posted by timothy from the look-in-the-studio-dumpsters-for-scripts dept.
bornagainpenguin writes "Slashdot recently reported that Stargate Universe was canceled, taking with it yet another of the vanishingly smaller network Sci-Fi shows to watch on TV. In the comments of that story someone mentioned Pioneer One as an alternative to traditional network series. I'm downloading it now and looking forward to seeing it, but I'm wondering what else is available that is independently produced and has a greater emphasis on plot and actually finishing the story? I'm already a fan of efforts like Batman: City of Scars, Starwreck: In the Pirkinning, and Star Trek: Phase II so I know that great things are possible, I just don't know where to find them! Can you help by making some recommendations?"
Earth

BP Ignored Safety Modeling Software To Save Time 203

Posted by Soulskill from the show-of-hands-who-is-surprised dept.
DMandPenfold writes "BP ignored the advice of safety modeling software in an attempt to save time before the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a presentation slide (PDF) prepared by US investigators. The slide in question briefly appeared on the Oil Spill Commission's website in error, but was quickly retracted. Advanced cement modeling software, provided by BP's cement contractor Halliburton, had highlighted serious stability concerns with the well."
Education

Astonishing Speedup In Solving Linear SDD Systems 157

Posted by kdawson from the want-to-see-it-again? dept.
eldavojohn writes "A new paper (PDF) out of Carnegie Mellon University shows how to solve symmetric diagonally dominant linear systems much faster than before. The technique employs graph theory, randomized algorithms, and linear algebra to achieve an astonishing advantage over current methods to solve such systems. From the article: 'The result is a significant decrease in computer run times. The Gaussian elimination algorithm runs in time proportional to s^3, where s is the size of the SDD system as measured by the number of terms in the system, even when s is not much bigger the number of variables. The new algorithm, by comparison, has a run time of s*[log(s)]^2. That means, if s = 1 million, that the new algorithm run time would be about a billion times faster than Gaussian elimination.' Developers out there who maintain matrix packages and linear algebra tools might want to take a peak at the paper. Anyone who has modeled real-world systems will be able to tell you that speedups in linear algebra algorithms have a weighty effect on efficiency in simulations — especially as one approaches the theoretical limits of optimality. This research is currently being presented at the IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science."
HP

HP Shows Off Android 'Printer' Tablet 70

Posted by Soulskill from the i'm-not-sure-the-market-was-crying-out-for-this dept.
angry tapir writes "Hewlett-Packard showed off a tablet computer that serves as a control panel for its new printer. The tablet browses the Web and can be used as an e-reader. It has a 7-inch screen and can be easily connected to HP's PhotoSmart eStation all-in-one printer. The tablet can be used to move and print documents and images from multiple media devices and can also be used to exchange content between the devices. The display is a larger version of the 3.5-inch control panel screens on HP's earlier Web-connected printers. The device is focused on providing access to content that can be printed, such as photos, articles, e-mail, recipes or e-books."

Comment Reminds me of the Mistborn books (Score 1) 238

by chrisl456 (#32850546) Attached to: Some Birds Can See Magnetic Fields
This sounds somewhat like what Brandon Sanderson described in his Mistborn books. If you were "mistborn", you could (after "burning" certain metals) see blue lines extending from yourself to metal objects around you, which you could then pull or push away from you.

Overall, they were pretty good books. I'd recommended them.
Government

New "Circuit Breaker" Imposed To Stop Market Crash 460

Posted by samzenpus from the financial-feather-fall dept.
Lucas123 writes "The SEC and national securities exchanges announced a new rule that would help curb market volatility and help to prevent 'flash crashes' like the one that took place on May 6, when the Dow dropped almost 1,000 points in a half hour. That crash was blamed in part on automated trading systems, which process buy and sell orders in milliseconds. The new rule would pause trading on individual stocks that fluctuate up or down 10% in a five-minute period. 'I believe that circuit breakers for individual securities across the exchanges would help to limit significant volatility,' the SEC's chairman said. 'They would also increase market transparency, bolster investor protection, and bring uniformity to decisions regarding trading halts in individual securities.'"

Submission + - Every Black Hole Contains Another Universe? (nationalgeographic.com)

Submitted by dynamo52
dynamo52 writes:

Like part of a cosmic Russian doll, our universe may be nested inside a black hole that is itself part of a larger universe.

In turn, all the black holes found so far in our universe--from the microscopic to the supermassive--may be doorways into alternate realities.

I had a similar thought one time based on a mathematical model I saw while reading a book on string theory. I also considered that each successive black hole could cause a dimension to "collapse". (i.e. our universe would be derived from a black hole in a universe with 4 spatial dimensions) Of course, I am not a physicist but it is interesting to see that they have similar ideas.

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